by Cara Wylde
The clock on the wall read 9 AM. They couldn’t stay at Alma Venus forever. They had already jeopardized the school’s routine and scared the headmistress out of her mind. They had turned everyone’s lives upside down. They had to go. But not before they took care of all the bodies in front of the gate. Viggo and the wolves who hadn’t been injured too badly had managed to clean the battleground before sunrise. The rogue werewolves and the werefoxes had been taken somewhere deep into the woods, behind the boarding school, at the foot of the mountain, and buried in complete secrecy. The fallen Crescents, Moon Children, and Dark Wolves were going to be taken to the Schloss. Sabine too.
Sabine. For a second, Avelyn wondered if there was anyone watching over her cold, pale frame, as she was doing for Christine, and Caleb and Rosanna for Val.
Sabine.
Avelyn’s chest clenched in pain. It hurt so bad that she thought she might be sick. She breathed in and out for a couple of minutes, and struggled to regain control over her body. They had both been her friends. Christine and Sabine. It didn’t matter that both of them had hurt her, lied to her, used her to achieve their own selfish goals. Nothing mattered now. Avelyn remembered the deep, dark bruises the dragon’s tail had left on Sabine’s lithe body, and swallowed down the bitter taste in her mouth. She would never be able to look into Viggo’s eyes again.
Max tried to reach her through their telepathic connection, but Avelyn blocked him. She didn’t want him in her head now. She wanted to be alone, with her own pain and despair. He had been badly injured by Sabine because he had refused to fight back, but he was recovering quickly. His body healed almost completely in a matter of hours. Jocelyn, on the other hand… Jocelyn had been on the brick of death. Ryan, her Beta, had carried her back to the school, and when he stepped over the threshold, he started screaming for help. Avelyn had never seen that big, intimidating man so vulnerable and terrified. Josie would heal too, but it would take her a bit more time, and a lot of rest.
Avelyn shivered in her chair, but didn’t even consider looking for a blanket. Even though the sun was up, its hot rays assaulting the building’s every window, the curtains were drawn and it was dark and chilly in the room. Goosebumps rose on Avelyn’s arms, and her stomach churned in pain. It felt as if it were filled with poisonous acid. She ignored it and continued staring at the white wall. She knew she would have to rise to her feet at some point, take the steps separating her from the door, open it, step over the threshold, then leave the room and close the door behind her. At some point, but not now. Now, she wasn’t ready. Now, she just wanted to sit there and think of nothing.
***
It was just before lunch when Max summoned Viggo in the garden. He was waiting for the dragon-shifter in the same spot Avelyn had stood months ago, when he had seen her for the first time and fell in love with her wonderful body, wild red hair, and cocky attitude. He should have sensed she wasn’t wolf-bride material then and there. And what if he had? Would he have done differently? No. There was no doubt about that.
Max sighed and looked far into the distance, at the frosty peaks of the mountains. Viggo had made sure there would be nothing to obstruct that perfect view for years to come. The beautiful garden of Alma Venus Boarding School was a fine pile of ash. He smiled to himself, but it was a bitter smile. He took a couple of steps to what once was Avelyn’s favorite lime tree, and winced at the movement. His body still hurt in so many places, even though the scars were slowly disappearing. He wondered if Avelyn was all right and if she would want to have a light lunch. She had refused to leave that dark, gloomy room, and she had kept him away from her thoughts. He figured she simply needed some time.
He heard Viggo before he even rounded the building. He turned around to see the young dragon approach him with bold, confident steps. He looked calm and unfazed. It seemed that sending so many shifters to the afterlife last night hadn’t shaken him in the least.
“You wanted to see me.” It was not a question. It was a statement.
Sun rays danced in Viggo’s golden eyes as if that was their favorite place to be. His tousled dark blond hair, chiseled jaw, and sensual lips made him look like some sort of god who had decided to roam the Earth for a couple of centuries. Just like that, out of boredom. How old was he? Max couldn’t tell. Dragon-shifters lived for thousands and thousands of years. They could as well be immortal. Maybe that was why making tough calls was so easy for him. He had lived too long and seen too much.
“Yes, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
Viggo stepped by Max’s side and looked at the horizon. “If you’re waiting for an apology…”
“No. It has nothing to do with what happened last night. You did the right thing. We were losing the battle and you saved us.”
“What about the girl?”
“Avelyn?”
“No. Sabine. You all seemed to care about her.”
There was a long, heavy silence. Viggo gave Max time to find his words or change the subject.
“We did. Sabine was… part of the family. A long time ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You did the right thing.” He could have added “you did what I didn’t have the courage to do”, but he didn’t. It was better to leave it this way. The past was in the past. The future was the only thing worth talking about.
“Then why am I here?”
“I was hoping you could help me keep a promise.”
“A promise?” Viggo turned to look at Max, his dark blond eyebrows raised in curiosity.
“A promise I made to the one who gave me the cure and saved my child’s life. James Harington.” When the dragon didn’t say anything, Max continued. “He has a sister.”
“Lily Harington. She’s a Donation here.”
“Oh. You know about her.”
“Of course I do. I didn’t spy on the Harington family all these years for nothing.”
“Well, this makes things easier.”
“What things?”
Max took a deep breath. He had thought about it long enough to know it was, in theory, a good idea. He just wasn’t sure how to phrase it.
“I promised James I would find his sister a good suitor, an influential shape-shifter who would take care of her, offer her everything she needs, while also satisfying Councilor Harington’s ego of having his only daughter married off to someone worthy of her name and status.”
Viggo’s handsome face lit up with a bright, indulgent smile. “I see. Unfortunately, I’m afraid I’ll have to refuse. Our tradition doesn’t allow an Annarr to take a mate before his Fyrstur.”
“I know. That’s why I’m not offering Lily Harington to you, but to your Alpha. Eric Drekinn.”
Viggo’s smile fell. He had to admit: the werewolf had taken him by surprise. He was now more curious than ever.
“Why would you think Eric Drekinn would even want a bride? He’s been asleep for over seven centuries, and he has no intention of waking up.”
“But you have every intention to bring him back, don’t you? I’ve paid attention to everything you said in that office. The cure. You want one for dragons because immortality is a terrible burden when you take human bride, after human bride, after human bride, and you only get to spend a couple of years with each of them.”
“We’re not immortal…” Viggo had turned his gaze back to the mountain.
“We, wolf-shifters, go through the exact same thing, except in our case it ends sooner. How much has your Fyrstur suffered? How many wives has he lost? You say he doesn’t want to wake up and take back his place as leader of the ancient Clan Drekinn. And you’re tired, aren’t you, Viggo? You’re so tired. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve taken care of the clan’s businesses for too long, and you’ve done it all by yourself. Eric Drekinn doesn’t want to wake up from his slumber because he believes there’s nothing to come back to. However, if you present him with a beautiful hybrid bride who could give him heirs and spend the rest of eternity with him, he’d change
his mind, wouldn’t he?”
“You’re awfully observant, Maxwell Blackmane.”
“I’m just good at putting two and two together.”
Viggo was silent for a couple of minutes. He had to think this through. He couldn’t jump in without taking everything into consideration. On the other hand, Lily Harington was a perfect candidate for Eric Drekinn. There were so many advantages. She wasn’t only the daughter of a human Councilor, but she was also the daughter of the only man in the world who had managed to discover a cure for the werewolf venom. Now that his endeavor had been successful, he could start working on cures for the other types of shifter venom. Like dragon venom. If he ever found the right formula for it, certainly Arthur Harington wouldn’t refuse his daughter the opportunity to become almost immortal.
“I’ve seen her with Avelyn,” he finally said.
“She’s a bright and beautiful young woman.”
“She is.” To tell the truth, he did think the blonde, fragile Lily was exactly Eric’s type. “I’ll ask for an interview with her.”
Max sighed in relief. He would have loved to show his enthusiasm in some way, maybe through a light punch to the dragon’s shoulder, or a friendly shake of hand, but he settled for a polite “Thank you.”
They stayed like that, in silence, watching the sun slowly rise to the middle of the sky. It was comfortably peaceful, with the wind blowing lightly, but never making a sound since it didn’t have any branches or leaves to get caught on. The air still smelled of burned wood and grass, but it wasn’t unpleasant.
The perfect moment was interrupted by rushed steps on the rock pavement. The quick click-clack of high heels was the harbinger of bad news. Max’s heart pumped adrenaline through his veins. When he saw Rosanna’s big, watery eyes, and quivering chin, he knew something was wrong.
“Rosanna, calm down. What happened?”
The girl sniffed her nose and struggled to keep her voice steady. “It’s Avelyn. She’s in pain.”
Max didn’t wait for her to finish. He rushed past her, and Rosanna had to run to catch up with him.
“She says it hurts… it hurts so much… I think there’s something wrong with the baby. She needs a doctor.”
He couldn’t hear her. It was like she was far, far away, and her tiny voice couldn’t reach him through the veil of darkness that had instantly covered his eyes and ears, drowning his senses in pure, unforgiving panic. “Avelyn. Avelyn and my son. No, nothing can happen to Avelyn and my son. I won’t let it. I won’t let it.” It was like a mantra. All he had to do was keep walking, keep climbing the stairs, and keep repeating it. Everything would be fine if he only kept repeating it.
END OF BOOK FIVE
CHAPTER ONE
Before the Storm
Max was pacing the corridor like a lion in its cage. He knew Avelyn was asleep. He could feel it. Then why was Dr. Stevens still with her? Why didn’t he come out already and tell him what was wrong with his wife? The waiting was driving him insane.
“Calm down. As long as the doctor is with her, she’ll be fine.” Kevin was leaning against the wall, staring out the window and trying to tune out his Alpha’s constant, annoying pacing.
“Don’t tell me to calm down. You know damn well I can’t. This whole thing is a mess. Oh, Christ! It’s such a mess.”
“We’re sorting it out.”
Kevin was right, of course. They were sorting it out. They had covered all the traces of the battle at Alma Venus Boarding School, they had transported the bodies of the fallen Crescents, Dark Wolves, and Moon Children to the Schloss, and Kevin had brought Dr. Stevens from London as fast as humanly possible. Avelyn and his baby were safe. They had to be safe. The hospital in Myrtle Valley wasn’t much, but the doctors were great professionals and they had connected Avelyn to an IV drip and put her to sleep. The only problem was that Dr. Stevens had been in there with her for over an hour, and Max just couldn’t take it anymore. He kept going through everything in his head, trying to convince himself there was no way he could have done things differently. No, there was no way he could have avoided this… putting his wife and unborn child in danger… He had tried. He had tried so hard. There was nothing he could change now. The only thing he could do was wait and hope Avelyn and the baby were well. She was just tired. That had to be it. The deaths of Sabine, Christine, and Val had taken too much of a toll on her.
“Please, Max! Just sit down for a minute!” Kevin ran his hands through his long, blond hair, exasperation evident in his voice and his dark green eyes.
Max almost snarled at him, but caught himself on time. It was true he felt like punching something, but punching his Beta would have been a huge mistake. Enough mistakes had already been made. He gave a deep sigh, rubbed his temples, and leaned against the wall opposite from Avelyn’s room. He immediately jumped at the sound of soft steps approaching the door from the other side. When Dr. Stevens stepped over the threshold, he almost bumped into Max’s wide chest.
“Mr. Blackmane…”
“How are they? Tell me they are all right. The doctors here didn’t do much. They just said she was tired and dehydrated and needed an IV.”
“Considering the little information they had to operate on, they were right. She is fine, Mr. Blackmane. You can calm down now.”
“Oh, thank God…” He finally allowed his painfully tense shoulders to relax. “Can I see her?”
“She’s asleep and I think it would be best to let her rest. Care to join me outside? I’d like to ask you a couple of questions.”
“Of course…” Max turned to Kevin. “I need you to stay here. Make sure she is safe.”
Kevin nodded. The only person who had ever wanted to hurt Avelyn was dead, but they had reasons to believe she wasn’t entirely safe. Part of Sabine’s rogue pack did escape before the Blackmane wolves even considered going after them, and the Inari who had supported the she-wolf was still out there. He had seemed terribly enraged when Viggo crushed Sabine’s bones, otherwise he wouldn’t have attacked the dragon. No one in their right mind would ever take on a dragon with only a couple of shifters by their side, yet the three-tailed Inari did. Why? Neither Kevin, nor Max had any idea. However, they had to be ready just in case the Alpha fox decided to seek some kind of revenge.
Max followed Dr. Stevens down the corridor, then out in the hospital courtyard. The sun was setting, lazily throwing red and orange rays to light the two men’s path.
“When was the last time your wife ate a proper meal?”
Max bit his lower lip and cursed himself for not making Avelyn eat against her vehement protests.
“I… I don’t know… These past few days have been a nightmare. So many things happened… I couldn’t protect her. I did my best to take her away from the madness, but I just… I wasn’t smart enough. Or fast enough. I don’t know… I don’t know anymore… She refused to eat this morning.”
“You should have made her eat.”
Max fell silent. What could he say? There were no excuses.
“What happened here, Maxwell?”
It was very rare that Dr. Stevens addressed him by his first name, and the small gesture felt like a punch to his gut. He couldn’t tell why.
“You don’t want to know…”
“I do. Believe me, I do. I need to know what your wife has gone through so I can find the best way to help her. As I see it, her suffering isn’t physical. I mean, yes, she is terribly dehydrated, weak, and exhausted, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. Her state of mind, however… that’s an entirely different thing.”
Max took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. The doctor knew about Sabine and about the cure. He had been the one to suggest it as a solution in the first place. He might as well tell him the whole story.
“It was my ex-bride, Sabine Miller. She found out about our baby and went bonkers. She tried to kill Avelyn.”
“My God…” Dr. Stevens took a couple more steps and stopped in front of a bench. He
didn’t sit down.
“There was a battle at Alma Venus… many died. Many of my people and Sabine’s… allies. I don’t even know what to call them. When they attacked the school I wasn’t even there. Oh, for fuck’s sake! I wasn’t even there!” It all came crashing down on him once again. Since Viggo saved Avelyn’s life by burning down half the garden, they kept coming… feelings of guilt, anxiety, helplessness. Panic.
The doctor didn’t say anything. He knew that Max needed time to gather his thoughts and, more than anything, he needed to voice them. He could see that he was trying to cope. There were moments when his face would light up with hope, only to go completely dark with despair a second later. With rest and care, his wife would be well, and so would his child. But it was important for Max to pull himself together if he was to support them. Basic psychology said he first had to fall apart.
“I should have seen this coming. What kind of husband am I if I can’t protect my own family? And what kind of Alpha am I if I can’t protect my clan?”
“What happened wasn’t your fault and you couldn’t have predicted it. You’re a good husband and Alpha. Too good. And I’m inclined to think this is why it escalated.”
Max shook his head.
“Listen,” continued the doctor. “Let’s try to see things from a different angle. What do you think you should have done differently?”
“Sabine. I should have turned her in half a century ago, right after she killed those girls. She should have gone through trial, suffered the consequences…”